Despite the initial excitement and success, lately Arshavin’s effort has been brought into question.  He has often looked lazy on the pitch and has not had the major impact of his signing promised at Arsenal.  This campaign, he has often been lost in matches, leaving little in the way of impact in his wake.

Out of Position

One of the major concerns about Arshavin has been whether or not he’s been deployed in the right position by Arsene Wenger.  It’s been noted by several pundits (including Arsenal Latest’s own Anand Saha and Scott Richardson) that Arshavin has been a much more productive player in his career when he plays a more central playmaking role.  Playing on the wing of the front three may not best suit his talents.

Arshavin has excellent dribbling skills.  And as such, he likes to show them off.  Playing on the wing, this means he is usually cutting inside the defender and looking for his shot.  Playing out too wide makes it harder for him to use this skill, as the boundary acts as a pseudo defender.  However, if he plays to close to the middle, he is throwing off the spacing of the 4-3-3 formation and bringing more defenders toward the middle, where Robin Van Persie is usually looking for more space to operate.

Arshavin is not a winger.  I’d argue he’d be better utilized in a 4-3-1-2 formation, as a playmaker in front of two forwards.  It cannot be argued that when he has played more freely in the middle for the Russian National team and Zenit that he was more productive in that role.

Keep Your Head Up

Arshavin’s lack of contribution seems to have taken a toll on him.  I’m no body language expert, and I won’t claim to be one.  But every time I see him on the pitch, he looks like he has a great weight on his shoulders.  He never seems to be having any fun on the pitch.

I’m not saying a professional footballer should always look like he’s having a million laughs on the pitch.  I don’t think that’s true at all.  But the Arshavin that first joined the Gunners always seemed to have a look about him as if he was up to something, like he knew he had something brilliant to add to the match and you just didn’t know what it was yet.

He hasn’t had that look all season, especially when the club has so desperately needed him.

Where have the Goals Gone?

Arshavin has just two goals in 25 appearances this campaign for Arsenal.  His only Premier League goal came against Swansea in September, a goal that came after an incredible gaffe from the Swans keeper.  This comes after scoring 21 goals in his first 71 appearances with the club (0.29 goals per match).

The Russian has not really seemed close to scoring a goal in his recent matches, and his current form would suggest the next goal is a ways off.  Between his arrival and the start of this season, no matter where Arsahvin was around the 18-yard box, if he could turn towards goal it was a scoring chance.  His brilliant strike at Old Trafford in August of 2009 and his goal last year at Villa Park were testaments to that.

Do I even need to mention his game-winning goal against Barcelona?

Time to Get Creative

Arshavin has been adept at setting up goals during his career, but not this year.  He has been nowhere to be found in the build-up to most of the Gunner’s goals.  He did have a brilliantly weighted pass to set-up RVP’s goal against QPR on New Year’s Eve.  That’s the Arshavin we need.  Not the one that trudged through the rest of that match, adding little but losing possession on dribbles and misfiring shots over the net.

Last campaign, AA23 appeared in 52 matches for Arsenal in all competitions and had 17 assists (he scored 10 goals in case you were asking).  This year?  Two assists in 25 appearances.

Contributing to a total of four goals in 25 matches is not the return Arsenal can afford from a forward that it two years removed from being its record signing.

Moving FORWARD

It’s hard to totally give up on Arshavin.  Maybe it’s the memory of him scoring four goals at Anfield or that goal against Barcelona.  I’ve been telling naysayers all year that he would come around and find that form again.  But, at this point I have to admit there has been no sign of that Arshavin recently.  There has been no spark to make me think that player is coming back either.

Should Wenger sell the Russian?  That is debatable.  Arsenal clearly couldn’t recoup the full amount it paid for the player in 2009.  Will Arsenal take the loss?  Should the Professor keep him around in case the spark returns?  Should he keep him around because as we have all seen, Arsenal certainly have their share of injuries (too bad Arshavin can’t play left-back)?

Arshavin’s future will need sorted, but more pressingly Arsenal’s on the pitch performance needs addressed.  If Arsenal are too stay with the 4-3-3, I would much rather see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain get more playing time on the wing than Arshavin.  My affinity for The Ox is certainly well documented in my previous columns, so I won’t again bore you with the 1000 reasons I like him as a player.  I will say this, when he came on the pitch Sunday in Wales, he created more in his short stint that Arshavin did in the match.

Tomas Rosicky could also be used in that role, but he really isn’t a winger either.  It would seem Arsene Wenger needs to sort out the fact that he has so many players that don’t fit the current system.

Are we all still over analyzing because Arsenal cannot seem to pull it together enough to win a trophy?  Possibly.  But one thing must change immediately:  The Russian goes to the bench.

You can follow Jimmy Gossard on Twitter @JimmyGossard

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